Ryan and Kimberly met at work and realized after hanging out with friends on weekends that there was more than friendship in their future. Despite spending many long lengths of time apart as each of them traveled, their relationship only grew stronger and Ryan proposed in such a romantic and creative way (read below)! They enjoyed a relaxed and fun engagement shoot with Fran Ze Photography in their natural environment, the beautiful mountains of Idaho witness to their joy and love.
Before the Ring (From the Bride):
Ryan and I met at work. He was a young (and terribly handsome) young man that would come into work on Mondays with, what I thought, were the most exciting stories about all the fun things he had done on the weekend. I would walk away thinking, “Oh my goodness, this is the coolest guys I have ever met,” and would wish for the day that I would get to hang out with him on the weekends. We were work friends for a while before we hung out together on the weekend a couple of times with work friends and one evening Ryan sent me a text message asking me to go to the movies. I was beside myself with excitement. Though the evening was fun, it wasn’t just the two of us…and so our adventure began! We both love to be with our friends and share exciting and mundane moments with people who make things more fun. Within a couple of months we had started dating exclusively and it was at that time that Ryan was offered a fantastic job for a company in town that worked out of Belize. I was told he was only going to be in Belize for a couple of months but it turned out to be six! Upon Ryan’s return we were together for a few months before I decided to take the opportunity to go home to Australia for six months. After that we were together in the U.S. for a couple of months before we had another great opportunity for the two of us to go and work on my sisters farm for the summer (American winter) so we got to go back to Australia for another three months. When we finally got back “home” and settled into our new jobs and normal life it was but a few months later that Ryan asked me to marry him. Ryan challenges me to be a better person every day, to push harder, try harder and to rest and enjoy the simple things. Ryan is easily entertained, he is slow to get frustrated and angry and he is the most patient person I have ever met (it is very annoying at times!) I must admit, that saying yes to Ryan, is by far the best decision I have ever made and I know without a doubt we are a very special couple with an exciting future ahead.
The Proposal (From the Groom):
On July 3rd of this past summer I took Kimberly out for what she thought was a birthday dinner in the fishing town of Island Park, Idaho. As we left for dinner, both Kimberly’s family and my family knew what was really going to happen on the special evening, everyone except Kimberly and her son Miles, who we were worried might let the secret slip. We sat down for dinner and enjoyed a bottle of wine. As the meal finished and we headed out I said to Kimberly lets head over to the river, which was just a few miles away, to “go look and see if there are any bugs hatching and fish up.” As we winded down a gravel road to the river I began to look for the boat my dad was supposed to drop off in the water at the landing while we were at dinner. However, there was no boat at the landing. I went down the river a bit further and jumped out of the truck and looked a bit more. Kimberly began to get suspicious and asked if I was looking for a friend of mine! Finally, we found the boat and I told Kimberly we were going to go for an evening float. I had a cooler with wine and we jumped in the boat and lifted the anchor. After we floated for a while I pulled over and cracked open the bottle of wine on the shore. Then I gave her two presents I had hidden. She opened the first gift which was a shirt I had bought her and gave to her earlier in the week with the premise that it was her “birthday present.” Then I gave her the next present and told her to turn around, facing away from me, and open the gift and she would know when to turn back around. Inside of this gift was four pictures in a specific order, the first a picture of my parents holding a sign that said Will, the second picture was Kimberly’s son Miles holding a sign that said You, the third a picture of Kimberly’s parents holding a sign that said Marry, and then a final picture that said, Turn Around… When she turned around I was waiting on one knee with the ring in hand. I asked her to marry me and she said yes. After taking it all in we headed home to see my parents, sister, and Miles where they were waiting with cupcakes that had signs on top that said “Kimberly said YES to Ryan.” We had champagne and were all too excited to do anything but talk about what the future would hold.
Photography: Fran Ze Photography